August 23, 2007

Oakley FlakJacket?

August 21, 2007

White Rock - Kayak Training, August 21, 2007

Futura II. 4-something miles. 4.10 mph avg. Pretty windy in the middle of the lake. Only had to drink 1 Gatorade A.M. this morning. I think having my legs wet helps keep me cool, so I don't sweat as much.

August 20, 2007

White Rock Kayak Training -- Futura II -- August 19, 2007

August 13, 2007

CR100 Training - August 11, 2007

Smithville to La Grange, TX
35 miles. The river was flowing at about 2.0 mph. 90+ degrees. hot hot. Took about 7 hrs; 5 mph average (paddling 3 mph relative to the current). Ouch.

Oh, and my supposedly 'waterproof' (waterproof to IPX7 standards -- ability to successfully operate for at least 30 minutes while continuously submerged at a depth of 1 meter) Lowrance iFinder GO2 died soon after I noticed water and condensate accumulating behind the screen.

The locals in La Grange are way cool. Their hospitality and congeniality are as big as Texas.

August 08, 2007

White Rock - Kayak Training, August 8, 2007

Rested three days, then paddled 9.6 miles this morning. A slow pace of 3.6 mph. I guess I'll have to live with a measly self-propelled speed of 3 mph for the CR100 (plus whatever speed the current carries).

It was pretty windy today. It was fun paddling against the wind, over, and through the waves, some of which were as tall as the upturned bow of the kayak. Hull-slapping, wave-hopping fun. Going the other direction (with the wind), it's almost like you're not moving -- if you paddle at the same speed as the swells, you can actually ride atop a tiny water hill. Cool. It feels like there's no wind, though, when you're going along with it, and it gets hot much faster. Not so comfortable. But it's easier to cover more ground. Always such a trade-off. Argh.

August 05, 2007

White Rock - Kayak Training, August 5, 2007

I went back to paddling the Perception Shadow. I like the Shadow much better than the Futura II. It takes less effort for me to keep it at 4 mph. When it's hot outside like it was this afternoon (95F), the heat wears me out -- even if I'm sitting still and resting. I underestimated how much the weather would affect my ability to paddle my kayak. I can see now that it's a pretty big deal.

So far, I've paddled a total of 49.97 miles (which includes 11 miles along the Trinity river between Lake Ray Roberts and Lake Lewisville), which took about 15 hours, cumulatively.

August 04, 2007

CR100 Training - August 4, 2007

This morning, I tried adding some ballast to the Futura II to see if it would help me sustain a slightly higher cruising speed. I think it does. My goal was to average 5.0 mph for the full 4 miles back and forth between the bridge and the boat house, but I was only able to maintain that speed for the first 1.5 miles. Ugh. I started feeling nauseous, so I figured I probably shouldn't push any harder. By the end of my outing, my average was around 4.24 mph, which is better than the previous few times out with the 19-ft monster.

My impression so far is that the Futura II feels like it has more drag at my ideal cruising speeds (about 4-5 mph) than the Perception Shadow, which is significantly shorter. Not only is the Perception shorter bow-to-stern, I think it has an even shorter actual waterline length, as opposed to Futura II, which has very little bow- and stern-, out-of-water hangover. So the Futura's 19-ft waterline vs. the Shadow's 15-something-ft waterline -- that's a lot more wetted surface area to drag around. Maybe that's why I feel like I haven't been able to paddle 4 miles as quickly as I expected. I still think the Futura II would be capable of a faster top speed in a short (reallly short) race, but I guess my realistic cruising speed is too far below the Futura II's hull speed to justify dragging around that extra length of kayak for touring.

Hopefully when I go back to paddling the Perception Shadow, my 4-mile paddles won't be such a struggle. Futura II -- she might be hot, but she's too high-maintenance.

August 02, 2007

No Nonsense Office

August 01, 2007

White Rock Kayak Training -- Futura II -- August 1, 2007

Like John speculated, my average speed wasn't any faster in the Futura II. It feels faster, but it's really not. And it scratches very easily. Very disappointing. Anybody want to buy a used Futura II kayak?